Movable truck jack



, Jan. 25, 1944; G. c. NoRos y MOVABLE TRUCK TACKy Filed Dec. 2, 1941 es. W la E* m4, l G y s .s s 5 N n .w

Patented Jan. 25, 1944 UNiTED srArs (Cl. 28B-46) 2 Claims.

This invention relates to truck jacks of the general character of that disclosed in U. S. Letters Patent 2,241,713, Aissued. to me May 13, 194i, entitled Movable truck jack, and is especially concerned with the provision of a jack which affords maximum convenience of operation and safety in the handling of fragile and bulky loads on the truck.

More specifically, while the said patented jack is lsatisfactory for many purposes and has beenwidely used in diversified industries it has certain characteristics which under some conditions may cause damage to the truck load, inconvenience to the operator and possible injury to his hands.

For example, it requires rather careful positioning of its guiding tongue with respect to the jack body when the truck is being raised or lowered and experience has demonstrated that when the jack is handled carelessly the tongue may slip out of its proper position and thus deprive the operator of complete control oi the action of the jack or severely jolt the load if Vas a consequence the front end of the truck is suddenly dropped to the oor. This characteristic of my prior jack is of little, if any, importance unless the truck is loaded with fragile or readily breakable articles but it then must be carefully handled to avoid damaging them and this to some extent limits the iield of usefulness of the said patented jack.

Additionally, it has been found that when a truck is loaded with articles overhanging its front end some risk is entailed in lowering and/or raising it with the said patented jack even though due care is exercised, as the operator is constrained to bring his hands into close proximity to the load with consequent danger oi and frequently actual injury as a result.

Under certain conditions, moreover, especially when a truck is being guided into very close quarters as when being loaded on an elevator or the like sufficient room for proper manipulation of the guiding tongue of the jack may not be available.

The present invention, however, is directed to the provision of a jack of this same general character of which complete control may be had especially while a truck is being raised or lowered and the risk of damage to even fragile articles upon the latter thereby minimized, the position of the. guiding tongue during these operations, moreover, being such it is unnecessaryv for the operator to bring his hands into dangerously close `proximity to the load even when 'the' latter considerably overhangs the 'front end of the truc-k.

Furthermore, in accordance with the lpresentinvention thegguiding tongue is attached to the jack body in such a way as to permit it to be positioned in upsta'nding 'relation and 'close to the front lof the truck without sacricifng adequate steer-ing control whereby manipulation ofl the jack in ,shifting the truck -in close quarters is iacil-itated and the utility of the jack and its c'a-l pacity for satisfactory employmenty inl numerous industries is appreciably enhanced.

It is accordingly a principal object of thel invention to provide a jack of the character aforo# said embodying a guiding tongue which when one position may be releasablybut positively interlocked with the jack body for controlling the' latter during the raising or lowering' of the truck,V

without' danger to the operators hands from proximity of a forwardly overhanging load, and also while the truck is being pushed backward yet which may be 'shifted to other positions for,

conveniently manipulating the jack when the vtruck is being moved in other ways.

A urthervobject is-to provide in a truck oi-tllisv general type a capacity for interlocking theI guiding tongue with the jack body which enables'the truck to be pushed backward with the aid of the tongue without endangering the load or. running the risk of accidentally disconnectingv the jackirom the truck should the jack wheels encounter an obstruction or irregularity in thefloo'r vover which it is being pushed.

Another object is the provision of av jack in, which the guiding tongue may be disposed in up right position closely adjacent the front ofthe' truck` and with but a minimum offforward projection with relation thereto without, sacricing` adequate `control of thel jack for steering thev truck.

Other objects, purposes and advantages of. th

invention will hereinafter more fully appear or be understood from. the following 'description Vof .an l' embodiment of it illustrated the accompany#- ingdrawing infwhich Eig; lisa top `plan view of 'the jack attached toa 'truck ci which onlylthe forward partis shown and Fig. 2*is a viewthereof partly in side eleva# tion and partly sectionalong'the line 2-f-2y in Figi 1;V

Like characters are used te designate the'fsame parts in both gures';

Referring how more particularly to the draw.. ing, the truck T which may be of substantially any specific character is provided with a pair of wheels at its rear end (not shown) while adjacent the opposite corners of its other or front end are positioned fixed supporting means such as feet F secured to a transverse cleat C on the under side of the truck platform to maintain the latter substantially `level when the feet are resting on a floor. At approximately the center of the front end of the truck a coupling l secured by bolts 2 provides a fixture for attachment of the jack and includes a socket 3 and semi-circular flange 4 which cooperate with the jack when the coupling is resting upon it to afford free swinging movement of the jack about the vertical axis of the socket in steering the truck.

The jack itself, shown in the drawing in operative relation with the coupling and thus supportingthe,` truck with its feet'F raisedy above the oor, is, of course, readily removable when it is desired to lower the feet to the latter and comprises in generalan integral body In having downwardly depending arms Il and I2 and a substantiallyvhorizontal center or bridge portion I3 the-upper surface of which underlies the coupling when the jack is attached tothe truck. The lack body is preferably cast about a steel pintle I5 projecting upwardly from the bridge forreceptionin the socket in the coupling and an overhanging segmental lip I6 cast integrally with the front edge of the bridge forms with the latter a track or groove Il for the coupling flange. n

The jack body is mounted on an axle 20 carrying wheels 2| and has a rearwardly projecting integral extension 22 connecting the arms to enhance their rigidity and afford a rest for 'the body when the jack is removed from the truck and the extension engaged with the oor. The body is formed with spaced upper and lower abutments 23, 24 which lie in front of the vertical plane of the axis of the wheels when the jack is in useY and are integral with and lextend between the arms to dene therewith a socket 25, the purpose of which will hereafter appear, and with forwardly projecting -extensions 26and 2l between which is disposed a pivot pin 28. On

this pin is mounted a head 29 having a slot 30y through which the pin extends, the head serving to connect a guiding tongue 3| with the body. The head has a boss 32 on its free or rear end adapted to enter the socket 25 when the tongue is in position for attaching the jack to or detachingit from the truck or for pushing the latterbackward; the inner end of the tongue, whichis preferably tubular, receives and is secured by a rivet 34 to a solid boss 33 on the other end-of the head while its opposite end carries a handle 35 suitably fastened, as-by.' av

rivet 36. f

:Considering now more especially the use of the jack, it will be readily understood, particu-` larly, after reference to my said prior patent, that it is `attached to the truck by entering'the pintle I5 in socket 3 in the coupling and then, by suitable manipulation of the handle, swinging the `jack body relative to thecoupling and to the wheel axle until the parts are brought to the position of Fig. 2. The axle now liesin a vertical plane slightlyto the rear oi the axis-of the jack pintle with the coupling resting on the jack ,body and the jack is held by -the weight of the truck in an unbalancedpositlgn which it could not normally retain if free to move about the axis of the wheels; however, the plane face of the bridge at the top of the body cooperates with the pintle, and when necessary the lip I6 with the coupling flange 4, to normally prevent its dislodgment as the truck is pulled about the oor.

The jack is readily controlled when coupling it to and uncoupling it from the truck through the medium of the guiding tongue 3| which is placed for this purpose in the position indicated in full lines in Fig. 2, that is, with the boss 32 `on the rear end of its head 29 seated in the socket 2-5 in the jack body. A substantially rigid connection between the tongue and the jack is thus attained and complete control of the latter through the tongue thereby assured.

After the coupling of the `lack and truck has been effected and the truck feet F consequently raised from the noor the tongue may be drawn forwardly to retract the boss 32 from the socket 25 until the end of the boss clears the front edge of the lower abutment 24 defining the bottom of the socket; the tongue may then be raised to the height most convenient for the operator to guide and propel the truck from place to place.

The capacity of the tongue to thus occupy different positions with respect to the jack body, obtained through the ability of head 29 to slide relatively to pin 28 and to pivot thereon, also permits the tongue to be locked tothe jack body by entering boss 32 in socket, 25 preparatory to pushing the truck backwards so that the operator can then hold the jack from tilting and thus prevent its accidental separation from thetruck should the jack wheels encounter an obstruction or rough spot in the floor. When thetruck is being drawn forward this separation cannot of course occur with either the said patented or the instant jack but it is an ever presentV the truck which may jack affords is of material advantage where the space is restricted, such as on'elevators, in crowded warehouses and the like and examination of Fig. 2, with particular reference to the position of the guiding tongue indicated in broken lines therein will clearly demonstrate how this is attained by rst' swinging the tongue to substantially vertical position about the pin 28 and thus very close'to the end of the truck and then lowering it to lock the boss 32 in front of and below abutment 24 instead of in socket 25. If necessary, the tongue can even bebrought into engagement with the front face of the bridge, and while it is thus held upright the truck can be manipulated. in a minimum space as the tongue remains fully effective for turning the wheels about the pintle l5 to 'steer in any desired direction during movement either forward or backward or in swinging in an arc.

When the tongue is in this raised position it will often be foundconvenient to move the truck by simply pushing against its load rather than by pushing on the tongue while steering by a wrist movement of one hand on the handle 35; as the jack turns quite readily about the axis of its pintle even when the truck is heavily loaded the maneuvering of the truck into a limited space and/or close to walls, door jects is thus simplified.

jambs or other ob- As the jack proper is entirely removable from the coupling, which remains to all intents and purposes an integral part of the truck after it has been once secured thereto, it will be apparent that but one jack may be interchangeably employed to service a plurality of trucks equipped with the relatively inexpensive couplings.

While I have herein illustrated and described one embodiment of the invention with considerable particularity, it will be understood I do not desire or intend to limit or conne myself thereto as changes and modifications in the form, construction and arrangement of the several parts, in their relationship to each other and/or to the trucks or the like with which they are to be associated will readily occur to those skilled in the art and may be made if desired without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as dened in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States:

1. In a truck jack of the character described, a body comprising a pair of depending arms, an axle extending transversely thereof, wheels on the axle, vertically spaced abutments extending between and Limiting the arms, said arms and abutments forming a socket substantially square in cross section, a guiding tongue comprising a head connected to the body between the arms for limited sliding movement in a plane normal to the axis of the wheels and having a rearwardly projecting boss likewise substantially square in cross section adapted to enter said socket when the tongue is slid to the limit of its movement in one direction to thereby lock the tongue and body together and when slid to the limit of its movement in the opposite direction, turned about 'said connection to substantially vertical position and then returned to the limit of its movement with respect to the connection in the i'lrst direction to positively lock the tongue in the latter position.

2. In combination with a truck and a coupling having a pintle receiving socket, a jack comprising a body formed with depending arms interconnected by a transverse bridge, a pintle projecting upwardly from the bridge for cooperation with the coupling socket to pivotally connect the jack with the coupling, wheels supporting the jack body, vertically spaced abutments extending between and uniting the arms and forming therewith a socket, a guiding tongue including a slotted head having a rearwardly projecting boss, and a pin extending between the arms through the slot in said head whereby the tongue may be moved longitudinally to enter the boss into the socket at one limit lof its travel to thereby lock the tongue to the jack body or retracted to the other limit of its travel to alord pivotal movement about said pin relatively to said body.

GEORGE C. NOR/OS. 

